Choosing to say out of the Alliance, the Cinders are isolated in their own conflicts, and when Helia Cinder reaches to the void for answers, she inadvertently draws a creature out. Expecting to be eaten alive, she is instead left with a man with no...
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"I made a donut, I guess," Cadence said, pulling his long red hair out of his face as he crouched and poked the small chain link of magic.
It was the most pitiful display of Song magic Tala had ever experienced, but it had Wren laughing and that was worth it. With Talamayas' downtrodden mood that had lasted for years, there wasn't enough merriment around the Sol castles of late. Such youth and innocence was a good change, even though Tala knew Cadence was not a permanent addiction to their house. It had been so long since Wren had been able to spend time with one of his people, and Tala had truly never known him when he had.
There was such a fierce protectiveness in his mate's eyes, a drive to teach the chain magic of his people to the boy who could barely make a single link with all he could muster. The very existence of that spell had shivers flowing down Shan's spine as he watched the boy from the corner, but Wren was right in saying that it was no fault of the magic. It was the users who'd warped it into something deranged and violent, and Tala was curious as to what different purposes the chains could serve.
Wren would never know since his chain magic had been sealed by Nicholas Arc.
"Does this look anything like it's supposed to?" Cadence skipped to where Talamayas reclined on the study's couch, and Tala sat up to observe the tiny black ring of magic in his hand. "Wren says anything is a great job, so I don't know when he's being honest."
Tala smiled, baring all of his fangs right in Cadence face, and the boy didn't even think twice about his proximity. No fear shone in those eyes, and Tala liked that as much as Wren. Such a thing, to share space and peace with the Songs as Sol vampires was an impossible dream that Tala knew Wren had long craved once he realized not all vampiress were monsters. Without his people though, it had always been a dream.
Tala wished that he could have made that a reality for him, but it was far too late.
Even if Shan had conveyed his mother's dying wish to Tala before all of this, to forgive Wren and spare his people, nothing would have changed. They would have gone on hating each other until Tala's bitterness had drove him to execute his mother's murderer. They would have never seen eye to eye nor come to care for each other as they did. The Songs and the Sols had been destined to destroy each other until only one was left, and Talamayas really hoped he could avoid that here.
"It's not very powerful, but solid," Talamayas said, cradling Cadence offered hand as he inspected his small spell. "That is best though. A single powerful chain link is useless. Chains are only as good as their sturdiest link, so focusing on making them solid enough to support each other like this is the first step."
Cadence glowed from the praise, the smile so unusual on the face of a red-haired, grey-eyed Song. Such happiness had been scarce even at the height of their people, the Songs too focused on eradicating vampires to slow down and smell the roses. Wren came to Tala's side, and a low purr eased from Tala's lips as Wren ran his fingers through his hair, trailing light magic down to his nape that had him shivering from the sensitive spot.
